By 1956, Ferencz was ready to return home with his wife and four children. [10] In this vein, he has suggested in an interview given on August 25, 2006, that not only Saddam Hussein should be tried, but also George W. Bush because the Iraq War had been begun by the U.S. without permission by the UN Security Council. There is also a poster of a documentary made by a German director last year. It was thanks to him that the trial against the so-called Einsatzgruppen German for action groups came about. So they moved into the dank cellar of a tenement house in Hells Kitchen, one of the nations poorest and most crime-ridden neighbourhoods. [27], On January 16, 2020, The New York Times printed Ferencz's letter denouncing the assassination of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, unnamed in the letter, as an "immoral action [and] a clear violation of national and international law". And I also learned that if we did not devote ourselves to developing effective world law, the same cruel mentality that made the Holocaust possible might one day destroy the entire human race.. ", He later graduated from Harvard Law School. Obituary for James "Jimbo" Ferencz | James "Jimbo" Ferencz, age 82, of Penn Hills, formerly of West Mifflin, passed away on February 6, 2021 at Forbes Hospital. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 [3] They were married for more than 70 years, without a quarrel,[41] until her death in 2019. The residency of Gertrude is at 14 Bayberry La, New Rochelle, NY 10804-3402. Sally Falk Moore discusses her role as a staff attorney for the American prosecutorial team at Nuremberg during the investigation of Nazi war criminals; the main purpose of the trials to serve as punishment/deterrent, so that heads of state do not feel immune from prosecution and to make a reliable historical record of the atrocities, documenting fair judicial procedures for the accused. There were 3,000 men who, for two years, murdered people, including children and infants, Ferencz recalls with a memory that defies his years. Later, he became an advocate of international rule of law and for the . The dictat cost Hungary 2/3 of its territory. Eventually, though, he got into school and proved to be a brilliant student. [25] In the same year, Ferencz was interviewed for the 2018 Michael Moore documentary, Fahrenheit 11/9. As the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials, he has witnessed more in his lifetime than most. But we only have the two legs, and theyre both a little bit wobbly; the third enforcement leg doesnt even exist., For his work and achievements, Ferencz has received many awards, including the medal of freedom from Harvard in 2014. A few months later, Transylvania was ceded to Romania under the Treaty of Trianon (1920), the result of World War I. They lived for many years in New Rochelle, New York, but now they are permanently in Florida. I came into the world as a pauper, I lived most of my life in poverty, and now Im giving it all back., I ask him if he was nervous, all those years ago, as he faced the court at Nuremberg. TTY: 202.488.0406. Since the second world war, Ferencz has stayed busy, leading efforts to return property to Holocaust survivors, participating in reparations negotiations between Israel and West Germany. Preceded in death by first wife, Catherine and one . I dont think so; it may be good for the next election, but its shortsighted. Apart from East Germany, they were the last executions performed on German soil, and in the federal republic. From here, Ferencz communicates with the world, writing articles, sharing his expertise on international law. From the UKs vote to leave the EU, to the election of Donald Trump; from the UNs stand-off with Syria and its allies for atrocities committed in its civil war to a colossal refugee crisis, peace and security have not seemed this unstable since the second world war. War is the supreme international crime. They were not all wild beasts with horns., It was far from a painless job, and what Ferencz saw in the concentration camps haunts him to this day. Is Theresa May doing the right thing in backing away from the ECHR? [15][16], In 2013, Ferencz stated once more that the "use of armed force to obtain a political goal should be condemned as an international and a national crime. UNLOCK PROFILE. Not long before Ferenczs discharge, the Allies had begun prosecuting major Nazi war criminals before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Ferencz was born on March 11, 1920 in Soncuta-Mare in Romania, and he was a baby when his family emigrated to New York. I have never heard of a war that does not kill the innocent., Most people dont know that until about the age of 95 years old, my father stood on his head for about five minutes every single day., Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights. Two persons, including Benjamin B Ferencz, Benj B Ferencz, listed the phone number (914) 636-1486 as their own, various documents indicated. Acquisition Benjamin B. Ferencz donated his collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Oct. 1994. He talks about upholding law not war, where Theresa May is going wrong and how to deal with Donald Trump. Holocaust Memorial Museum to promote world peace. Ben Ferencz laughs and says: "And that guy is me, an immigrant boy from Eastern Europe.". My dad is a guy who has been traumatised by what he saw, smelt and felt with his own eyes, ears and hands, he told the documentary makers. He was transferred to an academy for gifted children before studying sociology and criminal justice at the City College of New York. In that role, he was sent to the concentration camps that had been liberated by the U.S. There is nobody alive in the world with Ferenczs perspective. [9] You need laws in order to define whats permissible and whats not permissible, you need courts where people can be held accountable if they violate the laws, and you need a system of effective enforcement. Born Jan. 1, 1919, in Barree Township, she was the daughter of the late Charles Wesley and Nora Irene (Haulman) Hutchison. He didnt call for the death penalty, but he says it was justified. He grew up in a tough New York City neighborhood where his father found work as a. Taylor was preparing for the, They took place in the same courtroom as the International Military Tribunal proceeding, in the, In 2011, Ferencz delivered a portion of the closing statement in the ICCs. Vengeance is not our goal, nor do we seek merely a just retribution. Ellen Stewart, George Ferencz La MaMa Archives. Ben and his wife have been married for over 70 years without a quarrel, he insists. Benjamin B Ferencz, Age 102. aka Ben Ferencz, Benj B Ferenoz, Benj B Ferencz, Benjami Ferencz. Without pity or remorse, the SS murder squads killed every Jewish man, woman, and child they could lay their hands on. Ahead of his fathers 100th birthday, Don shared an anecdote about him. [43], He is the last surviving prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials.[44]. She and her husband George raised their two daughters and six sons in Elizabeth Township. Some of those positions included Executive Counsel, Office of the Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, Nuremberg, 1946-1948; Chief Prosecutor for the U.S. in the war crimes trial against Nazi extermination squads, 1947; Director General, Jewish Restitution Successor Organization, 1948-1956; Director of Operations, United Restitution Organization, Ltd., 1954-1956; Special Legal Advisor at Hague reparations negotiations, Germany-Israel, 1952; Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, 1953-1956; Counsel, International Council of B'nai B'rith, 1958-1961; Counsel, American Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants, 1959-1961; and numerous other councils and conferences related to the Holocaust. The annual gift is renewable for up to $10 million. As part of this unit, Ferencz helped liberate and investigate the Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Flossenburg concentration camps, among others. The results of his research were recorded in another two-volume book, Enforcing International Law-A Way to World Peace, which was published in 1983. [13], Experiences just after World War II left a defining impression on Ferencz. When he got older he found, as many of us do, the joys of whisky, in his case Scotch single malts. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. signed the treaty, but didn't ratify it. It never occurred to me that statements taken under duress would be invalid. Gertrude Ferencz Ann L Ferencz Donald Martin Ferencz View details Phone Numbers (804) nay - peek (909) nay - peek + 6 more View Benjamin's Current Address | View Benjamin's Phone Best Match Powered by Whitepages Premium AGE 80+ Benjamin Ferencz Berkeley, CA (West Berkeley) View Full Report Addresses Neilson St, Berkeley, CA Those are the three legs on which civilisation stands. Wars shouldnt be glorified, but recognized as what they are, he says. And the latter unleashed the historical forces that led to the rise of Nazism the crimes of which Ferenczwould prosecute at the Nuremberg Trials. During World War II, he. He entered private practice in New York, in partnership with Telford Taylor, but continued with his efforts to guarantee reparations, filing a string of important cases for Holocaust survivors over the next two decades. Weve been 70 years wed without a quarrel. Jewish Restitution Successor Organization. Family (1) Spouse Gertrude Fried ( 29 March 1946 - 2019) (her death) (4 children) Trivia (5) Shared the 2009 Erasmus Prize with Benjamin Ferencz. Gertrude Ferencz is a few months older than her husband. After George Gertrude Ferencz Delray Beach, FL (Kings Point) AGE 80+ AGE 80+ Gertrude Ferencz Delray Beach, FL (Kings Point) Phone NumberAddressBackground Report Addresses Seville O, Delray Beach, FL Bayberry Ln, New Rochelle, NY Seville N, Delray Beach, FL Relatives Ann L Ferencz Benjamin B Ferencz Donald Martin Ferencz View details Phone Numbers Be the first to know. https://www.jns.org/bipartisan-bill-awards-congressional-gold-medal-to-last-living-nuremberg-prosecutor/, Ferencz married his teenage sweetheart Gertrude Fried,[6] in New York[10] in 1946. Taylor was adamant that his office lacked the resources for such a trial, but Ferencz persisted. Holocaust Memorial Museum will help you learn more about the Holocaust and research your family history. Their four kids have reached the age of pensioners themselves now. Benjamin Ferencz was born on March 11, 1920 in Soncuta-Mare, Romania. It's called "A Man Can Make A Difference." Richard Sonnenfeldt, a Jewish American engineer who served as the United States prosecution teams chief interpreter at the Nuremberg trials, describes what it was like participating in the tribunal; and being assigned to the International Military Tribunal, which was responsible for interrogating some of World War IIs most notorious Nazi leaders. Gertrude Ferencz Death | Obituary | Gertrude Ferencz Dead | Died | Funeral Plans - We heard about the great loss, that our beloved person is no more and has reportedly passed away. So, the movement towards unification was itself a great accomplishment. He would eventually become what Richard Goldstone, the former chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, would later call the heart and soul of international criminal justice. I had peered into Hell.. Current Address: GGDP Seville O, Delray Beach, FL. But following its defeat in World War I (1914-1918), Hungary ceded the territory to Romania, where anti-Semitism flourished. Dalton . [6], In 1945, he was transferred to the headquarters of General Patton's Third Army, where he was assigned to a team tasked with setting up a war crimes branch and collecting evidence for such crimes. It would be the ninth of the 12 Subsequent Nuremberg trials, and would see 24 commanders of Einsatzgruppen units face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the spring of 1947, in Berlin, where Ferencz had been sent as the chief of the Berlin Branch to delve through Nazi offices and archives, histeam found a nearly complete set of secret reports describing the daily activities of the Einsatzgruppen. He did so by winning a scholarship to Harvard law school. Uncle, cousin and friend of many. The best quote of Bens, which I think summarises his lasting legacy, is I prefer law to war in all circumstances, Teitel explains. He points to a black and white picture on the wall. He graduated from Harvard's law school in 1943. BBC World Service radio report, aired on October 5, 2021, using recordings of interview from 2017. It shows a young man in acourtroom. [28] He became a centenarian two months later. My slogan has always been law not war. His family said the cause was. When visiting Auschwitz for the first time just after the war, Benjamin Ferencz picked up small bones in the grass. In 1970, with the United States sinking ever deeper into the quagmire of Vietnam, it was only natural that his mind should turn to the need for a peaceful world. Posted on February 9, 2021 by February 9, 2021 by It was called the biggest murder trial in history. As the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials, he has witnessed more in his lifetime than most. These institutions would not have existed without a vision of justice that started at Nuremberg.. [5], The family settled in New York City, where they lived on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. Ferencz married his teenage sweetheart Gertrude Fried, in New York in 1946. Benjamin Berell Ferencz (born March 11, 1920) is an American lawyer. A New Yorker most of his life, Ferencz has another home in New Rochelle, where he raised four children. Nittany Medical Center. While still at Harvard, Ferencz had studied jurisprudence with Professor Roscoe Pound, one of the most learned jurists in the world. It was as if I had peered into hell. General Telford Taylor was assigned as Chief of Counsel for 12 subsequent trials. One of the massacres committed by the Einsatzgruppenwas the oneat Babi Yar on Sept. 29, 1941. He was 92. Ernest Michel, a German Jew and Holocaust survivor, discusses being a 22-year-old reporter for a German news agency at the International War Crimes Trial in Nuremberg; his personal experiences of survival as well as how it felt to be present as a witness when the Nazis were brought to justice; immigrating to the United States in 1946; being committed to making sure people know what happened in the Holocaust so it will not happen again; and his scrapbook of newspaper articles and other documents from the Trials. The series includes but is not limited to correspondence, newspaper clippings, memoranda, notes, essays, reports, and other documents pertaining to Benjamin B. Ferencz's professional association with B'nai B'rith. He had come full circle from an opening statement at Nuremberg to a closing statement at The Hague. [42] They had four children. All Rights ReservedOfficialUSA.com is not a consumer reporting agency. 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